Keys Upsets 2-Time Champion Sabalenka in Women’s Final for 1st Grand Slam Title

USA's Madison Keys celebrates with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after victory against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 25, 2025. (AFP)
USA's Madison Keys celebrates with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after victory against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Keys Upsets 2-Time Champion Sabalenka in Women’s Final for 1st Grand Slam Title

USA's Madison Keys celebrates with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after victory against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 25, 2025. (AFP)
USA's Madison Keys celebrates with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after victory against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles final match on day fourteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 25, 2025. (AFP)

Madison Keys of the United States upset two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final on Saturday night to collect her first Grand Slam title at age 29.

By adding this win over the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka to an elimination of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday — saving a match point along the way — Keys is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTA’s top two players at Melbourne Park.

Keys, ranked 14th and seeded 19th, was playing in her second major final after being the runner-up at the 2017 US Open.

She prevented Sabalenka from earning what would have been her third women’s trophy in a row at the Australian Open — something last accomplished by Martina Hingis from 1997-99 — and her fourth major title overall.

When it ended, Keys covered her face with her hands, then raised her arms. Soon, she was hugging her husband, Bjorn Fratangelo — who has been her coach since 2023 — and other members of her team, before sitting on her sideline bench and laughing.

Sabalenka chucked her racket afterward, then covered her head with a white towel.

The men’s final is Sunday, with defending champion Jannik Sinner against Alexander Zverev. Sinner is seeded No. 1, Zverev No. 2.

Sinner eliminated American Ben Shelton in the semifinals, while Zverev advanced when 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic stopped playing because of an injury.

Keys is the oldest woman to become a first-time major champion since Flavia Pennetta was 33 at the 2015 US Open. This was the 46th Slam appearance for Keys, which ranks as the third-most major tournaments before winning a trophy in the Open era, behind only Pennetta’s 49 and Marion Bartoli’s 47 when she won Wimbledon in 2013.

It was the more accomplished Sabalenka who was shakier at the outset. Keys broke three times in the first set, helped in part by Sabalenka’s four double-faults and 13 total unforced errors.

Don’t for a moment think this was merely an instance of Sabalenka being her own undoing.

Keys certainly had a lot to do with the way things were going, too. She compiled an 11-4 edge in winners in that first set, managing to out-hit the big-hitting Sabalenka repeatedly from the baseline.

For a stretch, it seemed as though every shot off the strings of Keys’ racket — the one she switched to ahead of this season to protect her oft-injured right shoulder and to make it easier to control her considerable power — was landing precisely where she wanted.

Near a corner. On a line. Out of Sabalenka’s reach.

Also important was the way Keys, whose left thigh was taped for the match, covered every part of the court, racing to get to balls and send them back over the net with intent. On one terrific defensive sequence, she sprinted for a forehand that drew a forehand into the net from Sabalenka, capping a break for a 4-1 lead.

Never one to hide her emotions during a match, Sabalenka frequently displayed frustration while trailing on the scoreboard, kicking a ball after netting a volley, dropping her racket after missing an overhead, slapping her leg after an errant forehand.

Sabalenka took a trip to the locker room before the second set, and whether that helped clear her head or slowed Keys’ momentum — or both — the final’s complexion soon changed. Keys’ first-serve percentage dipped from 86% in the first set to 59% in the second. Sabalenka raised her winner total to 13 in the second set and began accumulating, and converting, break points.

When she sent a backhand down the line to force an error by Keys for a break and a 2-1 lead in the second, Sabalenka shook her left fist and gritted her teeth as she walked to the sideline.

When she broke again to go up 4-1, Sabalenka marked the occasion with a long and loud scream while looking in the direction of her team.

By the time the last set arrived, the action was tight and tense, without so much as a single break point until its final game, when Keys came through with one last forehand winner.



Man City Rallies to Beat Club Brugge and Advance in Champions League. PSG Also Wins and Stays in

Savinho (R) of Manchester City in action against Joaquin Seys of Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Club Brugge in Manchester, Britain, 29 January 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Savinho (R) of Manchester City in action against Joaquin Seys of Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Club Brugge in Manchester, Britain, 29 January 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
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Man City Rallies to Beat Club Brugge and Advance in Champions League. PSG Also Wins and Stays in

Savinho (R) of Manchester City in action against Joaquin Seys of Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Club Brugge in Manchester, Britain, 29 January 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Savinho (R) of Manchester City in action against Joaquin Seys of Brugge during the UEFA Champions League match between Manchester City and Club Brugge in Manchester, Britain, 29 January 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

Manchester City stayed in the Champions League, barely. Paris Saint-Germain saved its elite status in style.
Both had risked embarrassing exits before winning on Wednesday, grateful to be among the 24 teams in the knockout stage. In the new playoffs-round draw Friday, they will also find defending champion Real Madrid or Bayern Munich who finished in mid-table after the 36-team standings was finalized.
City flirted with a disaster before rallying to beat Club Brugge 3-1 in a must-win game. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, and then sitting 26th in the live standings, the 2023 title-winner was sparked by substitute Savinho to avoid elimination, the Associated Press reported.
“In the second half we let our souls and hearts free,” said City manager Pep Guardiola, who had an anguished evening on the sidelines and was shown a yellow card.
City finished 22nd but relief turns to the realization that its playoff round opponent will be either Madrid or Bayern, which slotted into the bracket possibilities in, respectively, 11th and 12th place.
PSG started play in 22nd before cruising to a 4-1 win at Stuttgart, fired by Ousmane Dembélé's hat trick, that eliminated the German club.
The French champion impressed again after a crucial 4-2 comeback win over Man City one week ago, and rose to 15th place. Still, that puts PSG on a path to meet either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16 in March if it wins an all-French playoff against either Monaco or Brest.
Liverpool topped the standings despite a 3-2 loss with a weakened team at PSV Eindhoven, and Barcelona ended runner-up after a 2-2 draw with Atalanta.
Only the top eight teams go direct to the round of 16 and that excludes Madrid, which won 3-0 at Brest, and Bayern, a 3-1 winner against Slovan Bratislava.
Inter Milan, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid sealed top-eight finishes as expected with low-key wins. Inter beat Monaco 3-0, Arsenal won 2-1 at Girona and Atletico won 4-1 at Salzburg, which had a woeful campaign.
Bayer Leverkusen, Lille — which thrashed Feyenoord 6-1 — and Aston Villa completed the top eight.
Stuttgart dropped to 26th place and was eliminated along with Dinamo Zagreb, despite its 2-1 win over AC Milan whose United States playmaker Christian Pulisic had leveled the game. Milan can face Juventus in the playoffs round.
Brugge took the 24th qualification place ahead of Dinamo on the tiebreaker of goal difference.
An unprecedented Champions League night of 18 games playing at the same time — completing the new 144-game opening phase format – ended with no shock exits though final standings that defied expectations.
Three English teams finished in the top eight but not Man City.
Two Spanish teams finished in the top eight but not Real Madrid.
The one German team in the top eight is not Bayern, and the one French team is not PSG.
Those four wealthy powers of European soccer found the new eight-game format trickier than expected. They now have the burden of two extra games on back-to-back midweeks in February to earn round of 16 places that were routine in the old group-stage format.
Villa joined Liverpool and Arsenal in the top eight by beating Celtic 4-2 to rise to 16 points — the cut that meant avoiding the playoffs.
UEFA’s preseason prediction of eight points to enter the knockout phase proved far off the mark.
Dinamo got 11 points and still was eliminated, ensuring no team from eastern Europe will be in the knockout phase.
The lowest-ranked country in Friday’s playoffs round draw is Scotland, whose champion Celtic finished 21st, one place and one point above Man City.